Re: What defines democratic and majority rule?
I think you may be lacking understanding of what my point is. I would like to see religious influence removed from the function of society. It is no different than dictatorship, it just comes in the guise of christianity. Our government, our progress should not be influenced by religion, period. Maybe you don't want to hear that, but that does not mean it it shouldn't be.<br /><br />You have made no point, or given no example of horrible large scale atrosities not based on religion. I am quite sure it exists, but lets face it, the Holocaust, Jim Jones, 9/11, Waco, etc, they all have religion as a core. <br /><br />Who says non-religious people are a minority? You? Do you have hard statistical numbers? Are you God? This is what pisses me off so much, the pious better that thou attitude that is exibited. While I respect the fact that you have a belief system, that does not mean that it exists for me. I am not in a minority if I don't believe in what the so-called majority believes in, I am not religious. It is no different in my mind than those who believe in aliens or the lottery. You do not get to say who is or is not a minority just becuase you have a hobby that involves a book and a building. That is called Arrogance.<br /><br />You know what, you're right, on an invidual level, there are a lot of religious people who are good, moral, upstanding citizens who care for others. Unfortunately, as a whole, large groupings of the devout can be single minded and intolerant to anything outside of their belief. This is the point I keep hammering my sore skull to the wall about with the religious. You want us non-religious to be open minded to God, but you refuse to accept anything outside of God. The hypocracy flows and flows. There are so many built-in safety nets in religion. Molest your neighbors daughter? Confess on Sunday! Steal a carton of cigarettes? Confess on Sunday! You can be arseholes but its okay because God forgives you. <br /><br />Me I don't have that luxury. If I am a deviant, I have to live with it. There is no diety to forgive me, I have to deal with it. My moral standard, in my opinion, is higher than a person who is religious. I have to look in the mirror every day and live with what I do. Consequently, I do everything in my power to lead a productive life that does not bring pain or harm to others. I am far more helpful and kind than a lot of religious people that I know, and that is unfortunate. How am I, a non-religous person, supposed to support a system like religion when it has so many followers that give it a bad name, and represent it so poorly? What does it matter anyway, God will forgive them all, so they can cheat on their wife, abuse their son, and be drunks. <br /><br />I have had so many people try to bring the word of God to me and fail, and the end result has always been the same. They say awful things, tell me I am a sinner, I will go to hell. I always have difficulty with that because who are they to tell me what will happen to me? Are they God? I usually just feel pity for their tiny narrow minds, they can't help it. If there is a God (I have never said there isn't, that would just as arrogant as saying there is a God), He will judge me on my life, not on how much time I spent in a building with a book. That is how I can go to bed every night, at peace with the knowledge that if I live a good life, the rest is out of my hands anyways, God or no. <br /><br />Just so you know, my family has always been Catholic, and it stopped at my mother, who raised us to belive in what we wanted to believe in. She experienced a lot of bad things by the hands of the religious, and realized that it was not the end-all of the world. We went through a bad spell when I was a child. living in a car, the works. It was churches, religious based food banks and charities that turned us away. Instead of helping the unfortunate, they only helped the unfortunate who just so happened to be of their religion. Its just another version of the "Old Boys Network". <br /><br />We did recieve help, and things got better, but it was no thanks to the church, who looked upon us like we were trash. It is those pitiful shallow tiny minded people who I direct my energy towards. I will always remember the nice clothes and expensive cars and the looks of contempt. Those who actually live by the good standards of religion get my respect, the rest can go rot. Maybe my opinions seem colored, but in fact my experiences are based on what really happens, not in the rosy fantasy land that most think religion is. <br /><br />I am done with this rant, only the open minded will ever understand....
